Forner Bros. Dairy

Currently there are 60,000dairy farms in the United States today. On March 23, 1880, Louis P. Whiteman was granted Patent #225,900 for a glass milk bottle.

For many collectors of milk bottles they carry a nostalgic quality of a by gone era when the milkman delivered fresh milk to your door step. The milk bottle’s with embossed or pyroglazed (painted) names of dairies on them, where they were used for home delivery of milk are the most prized of the milk bottles today, of the ones that didn’t make there way back to the dairy.

In early 1900’s around 1910 when the first refrigerator was invented so was the first paper milk carton by G. W. Maxwell and in 1967 the plastic milk jugs were introduced in the United States. So most old glass milk bottles range from late 1880’s to the mid 1960’s but they are stilled produced today.

The ones today are a lot easier to spot have you ever noticed the small bumps on the side of most bottles today near the base. These are typically called “mold codes” they are read by production equipment so the machines know how large the bottle is for proper filling and shipping. On dairy farms in late 1880’s & early 1900’s proper filling and shipping were done by the farmer not a machine. I Hope you found this short history lesson help full in your picking life. The link below shows a video on how modern milk was made in 1948.